“Many of the purported academic benefits of sports — recruitment, prestige — have all proven to not be true. They don’t exist.”

University of California, Santa Cruz athletes at a drill. Some students want to roll back the fees they pay to support sports teams. Photo: University of California, Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Andy Pinedo likes sports. He just doesn’t want to pay more so other people can play them.

As sophomore at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Pinedo voted “no” last year in a referendum about whether he was willing to hand over another $270 a year to support his school’s Division III teams, above the $1,221 in fees the campus charges now.

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